3 players the Phoenix Suns wish they signed over Yuta Watanabe
By Luke Duffy
1. Christian Wood
It is time to admit defeat on Christian Wood, because this writer thought Bol was a better option on a flyer than the current Los Angeles Lakers forward during the offseason. Perhaps this is the LeBron James impact at work again, but Wood has looked like the kind of role player the Suns could have done with, and possibly had too.
Wood is on an identical two-year deal to Watanabe, and is playing a shade under 20 minutes per nighht for the Lakers this season. He's nowhere near the level of shooter that Watanabe is, but he would have provided the Suns with a little bit of everything they'd like off the bench at the forward position.
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He provides good size - with the 5.4 rebounds he grabbing illustrating this - and although hardly a good or often willing defender, still probably gets the edge on Watanabe in that area too. In a cruel twist, Wood is also making the exact same amount of 3-pointers currently (32.9 percent) as Watanabe has managed.
Perhaps the forward position would have been too crowded, and Wood wouldn't have gotten the same amount of run as Watanabe. Then again - with how much he is playing - Wood could have just slid into Watanabe's position here and done a lot of what Watanabe isn't doing, while providing a different set of skills himself.